From the Atlantic Ocean to the Albertine Rift Mountains, the Green Heart of Africa provides livelihoods for tens of millions and is home to many of the world’s iconic species.

A mosaic of rivers, forests, savannas, swamps and flooded forests, the Congo Basin is teeming with life. Gorillas, elephants, buffaloes and hippos all call the region home.

The Congo Basin spans across six countries: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

There are approximately 10,000 tropical plant species in the Congo Basin, of which an estimated 30% are unique to the region. Endangered wildlife, including forest elephants, chimpanzees, bonobos, and lowland and mountain gorillas inhabit the lush forests. 400 other species of mammals, 1,000 species of birds and 700 species of fish can also be found here.

The Congo Basin has been inhabited by humans for more than 50,000 years and it provides food, fresh water and shelter to more than 80 million people. Nearly 250 distinct ethnic groups exist, and the region’s Ba’Aka people are among the most well known representatives of an ancient hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Their lives and well-being are linked intimately with the forest.

Cameroon Football icon, Roger Milla, has added his voice to the fight against climate change as the world seeks solutions to global warming. Milla and WWF Cameroon recently launched a campaign dubbed “Sports for Nature” to save “Mother Earth.” Through this campaign, Milla’s Foundation, Coeur d’Afrique, a charity, alongside WWF carried out a series of awareness raising activities on the sidelines of the female African Cup of Nations hosted by Cameroon from November 19 to December 4, 2016.

“For the past 50 years, scientists have been warning of a possible destruction of planet earth,” the footballer, who is also Roving Ambassador for Cameroon, said in his speech. “We are watching helplessly as our environment is being negatively transformed. Through my voice, sports men and women have decided to mobilize and commit to fighting climate change,” he said during a press conference to launch the campaign in Yaounde, Cameroon.

“Every minute that passes by, a football field is destroyed. I am strongly appealing to the national and international communities and all those who gathered at Marrakech in Morocco to find lasting solutions to problems besetting the planet. I and other athletes are committed to protect nature from utter destruction,” he declared. “Let’s play football today for a better planet tomorrow,” Roger Milla said.

The Country Director for WWF Cameroon, Dr. Hanson Njiforti, said Sports for Nature is a campaign seeks to touch the hearts and minds of football fans and the public in general to take action against the environmental challenges facing our planet. “There is an urgent need for the peoples of the world to get together, speak with one voice and make the right decisions to save the planet,” Dr. Njiforti said adding that, “for WWF, icons like Roger Milla represent the omniscient voice that can rally people across all boundaries and color lines to lend a hand to this troubled world.”

The campaign also got a boost from the Cameroon female football team, the Indomitable Lionesses, who declared themselves ambassadors of the initiative.
The Sports for Nature campaign will be carried out in and around stadia hosting the female African nation’s cup in the cities of Yaounde and Limbe in Cameroon. It will be marked by planting of trees and donation of dustbins to the stadia, sensitization through fan clubs, animation of stands and erection of billboards in the towns hosting the event. “For the past 50 years, scientists have been warning of a possible destruction of planet earth,” the footballer, who is also Roving Ambassador for Cameroon, said in his speech. “We are watching helplessly as our environment is being negatively transformed. Through my voice, sports men and women have decided to mobilize and commit to fighting climate change,” he said during a press conference to launch the campaign in Yaounde, Cameroon.

“Every minute that passes by, a football field is destroyed. I am strongly appealing to the national and international communities and all those who gathered at Marrakech in Morocco to find lasting solutions to problems besetting the planet. I and other athletes are committed to protect nature from utter destruction,” he declared. “Let’s play football today for a better planet tomorrow,” Roger Milla said.

The Country Director for WWF Cameroon, Dr. Hanson Njiforti, said Sports for Nature is a campaign seeks to touch the hearts and minds of football fans and the public in general to take action against the environmental challenges facing our planet. “There is an urgent need for the peoples of the world to get together, speak with one voice and make the right decisions to save the planet,” Dr. Njiforti said adding that, “for WWF, icons like Roger Milla represent the omniscient voice that can rally people across all boundaries and color lines to lend a hand to this troubled world.”

The campaign also got a boost from the Cameroon female football team, the Indomitable Lionesses, who declared themselves ambassadors of the initiative.
The Sports for Nature campaign will be carried out in and around stadia hosting the female African nation’s cup in the cities of Yaounde and Limbe in Cameroon. It will be marked by planting of trees and donation of dustbins to the stadia, sensitization through fan clubs, animation of stands and erection of billboards in the towns hosting the event.
This is the second time in eight months that Roger Milla has joined WWF to campaign for the protection of the environment. In March this year Milla participated in the first ever Earth Hour campaign organized by WWF Cameroon under the theme shine a light on climate action. He personally planted trees in seven schools in Yaounde and took part in a huge awareness campaign involving some 5000 students and pupils from schools in the Centre, East and Littoral Regions of Cameroon.

Roger Milla became famous in 1990, after scoring four vital goals for the Indomitable Lions, thereby enabling Cameroon and Africa to get to the quarter finals of the FIFA World Cup the first time in Italy. His peculiar jigs in celebration of his goals reverberated across the world.

WHY ARE THE FORESTS OF THE GREEN HEART OF AFRICA SO IMPORTANT?

The forest ecosystem is hugely important to the economy of the region, and of the world. It provides food, fuel and shelter to millions of people, and regulates climate and rainfall far beyond their borders. The timber industry, one of the top three employers in most of the Congo Basin’s countries, is worth several billions of Euros, and large reserves of oil and minerals as well as agroindustry could drive much-needed economic growth and development. WWF in Central Africa is therefore contributing to the global conservation priorities, in alignment with regional and national country conservation frameworks in the sustainable development areas, to build a future in which humans can live in harmony with nature.